Making God’s will happen

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven” (Matthew 7: 21). The Chief Apostle used this passage for the divine service in Lomé in Togo on 15 January 2016.

“In our Bible text today the Lord tells us how we can glorify God,” Chief Apostle Jean-Luc Schneider said with a view to our 2017 motto. “It is not enough to gather every Sunday in order to praise God. Nor is it enough to simply work for God in order to enter into the kingdom of heaven.”

Decisive is our hearts’ attitude and our willingness to do the will of our heavenly Father. “That is why it is important to know what God wants,” the Chief Apostle said.

Believing in Jesus

The Father wants us to believe in Jesus Christ. And that means that we must believe

• that the Son of God did not come to earth to spare human beings from suffering, but to offer them eternal life.
• even without seeing, in other words, trust in God.
• in the calling of the ambassadors of Jesus, the Apostles.

Keeping the Commandments

“The Father loves us. He has made us His children and promised us that we will be able to enter His kingdom,” the Chief Apostle said. “In return, God expects that we respond to His love. We can prove our love to Him by keeping the Ten Commandments.”

Working on our sanctification

“For this is the will of God, your sanctification.” The Chief Apostle referred to these words by Paul from 1 Thessalonians 4: 3 in his sermon. It is up to us to make sure that His will can be fulfilled.

• We have to make sure that we receive His word and the sacraments.
• God expects us to renounce everything that does not correspond to His will.
• We have to make sure that the Holy Spirit becomes the driving force in us.

Loving our neighbour

“God wants all of mankind to be saved,” the Chief Apostle continued. “That is why God tells us: love your neighbour as yourself!”

• It is not up to us to judge and punish sinners. We certainly would not want God to punish sinners.
• Let us take care that we do not become a stumbling block for others.
• Let us serve one another in love. Let us support our brothers and sisters and help them keep faith.

“We are committed to doing everything we can so that His will is done,” the Chief Apostle said in closing. “By doing so, we honour God, our Father!”